A PRE-Christmas lift in Melbourne house prices has been confirmed by the state’s most accurate measure of home values.

The median Melbourne house gained $22,500, or 4.8 per cent, and rose to $495,000 between September and December, according to newly-released figures from the Valuer-General’s office.

The data released this week also showed solid improvement for units in Melbourne, which rose by $8600, 2 per cent, in the same time frame.

The impressive lift in house values brought both medians to their highest level in the preceding 12 months.

Victorian Valuer-General Robert Marsh said almost half of Victoria’s towns and suburbs had increased in value in the time.

“Of the 698 listed Victorian locations, 335 had median house price increases for the December 2012 quarter compared to 337 in the September quarter,” Mr Marsh said.

“Twelve localities recorded no change and 324 showed a decrease.”

The figures are dated compared to more rapidly updated medians provided by other sources, but the Valuer-General’s data captures 93 per cent of all sales and are considered the most accurate measure of Victorian home values.

Melbourne’s top performer for the year to December was out west, where Spotswood’s median house price rose from $528,500 to $743,000, a 40.6 per cent leap.

The bayside suburb of Elsternwick had the worst year, with median house prices tumbling from $1.25 million to $1.02 million, down 18.3 per cent.

In country Victoria house values remained steady with a $280,000 median, while units rose $5000, 2.2 per cent, to a new median of $235,000.

Bendigo enjoyed a boom, with the median house price rising 23.4 per cent to $377,500 from $306,000.

While Wonthaggi suffered a 36.1 per cent hit to median values, which fell to $182,000 at the end of the December quarter from $285,000 a year prior.

The numbers appear to be a validation of earlier figures provided by RP Data and the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, and may point to a further correlation that our market has entered a recovery.

But they come after further figures from RP Data marked a slight drop in home values in April and May in Melbourne.

Check out Saturday’s Realestate section in the Herald Sun for the latest tips and insights into Melbourne’s residential property market. And grab the Sunday Herald Sun to see how your suburb performed at auctions this weekend